| Vallens — Consent (June 24, 2016) |
Vallens — Consent (June 24, 2016) 
→ Topical, powerful, and wholly invigorating...
→ The fact is, Vallens does their own thing and they do it very well. You can use genre labels if it helps you narrow down the musical territory but don’t have the temerity to use labels to pigeon–hole these guys or box them in. New album ‘Consent’ is topical, powerful, and wholly invigorating. ‘Karen’ deals with the tragic life story of Karen Carpenter, while ‘Drag’ focusses on astronauts who volunteer to travel to Mars despite knowing they will never return.
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Album release: June 24, 2016
Record Label: Hand Drawn Dracula
Genre: Indie Rock, Female Vocal, Alternative, Canadian, Experimental, Psychedelic
Duration: 43:52
Tracks:
01 While You Wait 2:16
02 Drag 4:14
03 Consent 4:11
04 Rosemary 3:40
05 Devour 5:59
06 Karen 3:31
07 Dark Tunnel 3:51
08 Tennesse Haze 6:52
09 Sin so Vain 7:03
10 Still Need Dreams 2:15
Notes: Recorded with Jeff Berner of Psychic TV at Galuminum Foil in Brooklyn, NY and at Candle Recording with Josh Korody (Beliefs, Wish) in Toronto, ON.
Personnel:
→ Robyn Phillips — songwriter, founder
→ Colin Morgan — drums,
→ Marta Cikojevic — synth & keyboards,
→ Devon Henderson — bass
Review
By Yasmine Shemesh, Published Jun 22, 2016; Score: 8
→ The instrumental first track on Consent, the debut full–length from Vallens, is much like an opening scene to a thriller film; “While You Wait” is at once unsettling and intriguing, with the tense feeling that something is about to happen.
→ It’s an appropriate way for Toronto musician Robyn Phillips, whose project is named after David Lynch film Blue Velvet’s Dorothy Vallens, to begin; much like the darkly surreal cinematic style that’s made Lynch a cult icon, Consent is, too, simultaneously ominous and exquisite. And yes, something significant does happen.
→ Paired with the haunting quality of her voice, Phillips’ whirls of moody shoegaze and trembles of psychedelia weave an emotionally unsettling sonic tapestry. The music’s mind–bending elements, coaxed out by the production of Psychic TV’s Jeff Berner and Josh Korody (Beliefs, Wish), add a profound sonic complement to lyrics about subject matter like addiction, which Phillips confronts on “Karen.” The song, named after singer Karen Carpenter, reflects a plummet into chaos through a violent flurry of fuzz.
→ A feeling of loneliness characterizes “Devour” through pangs of Mazzy Star–like melancholy, which stands in contrast to the joyful, garage–scrubbed symphony of “Tennessee Haze.” Dangerous energy drives all the tracks, but perhaps most blatantly on the menacing rumble of “Rosemary” and “Sins So Vain,” where Phillips beautifully issues an angular melody over cymbal crashes.
→ Consent closes on an atmospheric note with “Still Need Dreams,” which recalls the tone the album opened with. It leaves the listener dizzied, mulling over the emotional wormhole they’ve just hurtled through. It’s the type of record one should listen to with eyes closed, to fully allow the mind to be swept away on a journey that both delights and disturbs, in the most enchanting of ways. (Hand Drawn Dracula) → http://exclaim.ca/ / Also: Robin Murray: http://www.clashmusic.com/features/album-stream-vallens-consent
Label: http://www.handdrawndracula.com/
Review
Mark Anthony Brennan, June 30, 2016
→ http://ridethetempo.com/2016/06/30/album-review-vallens-consent/
Bandcamp: https://handdrawndracula.bandcamp.com/album/consent
© Photo by Cristina Naccarato
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| Vallens — Consent (June 24, 2016) |
→ The fact is, Vallens does their own thing and they do it very well. You can use genre labels if it helps you narrow down the musical territory but don’t have the temerity to use labels to pigeon–hole these guys or box them in. New album ‘Consent’ is topical, powerful, and wholly invigorating. ‘Karen’ deals with the tragic life story of Karen Carpenter, while ‘Drag’ focusses on astronauts who volunteer to travel to Mars despite knowing they will never return.
Album release: June 24, 2016
Record Label: Hand Drawn Dracula
Genre: Indie Rock, Female Vocal, Alternative, Canadian, Experimental, Psychedelic
Duration: 43:52
Tracks:
01 While You Wait 2:16
02 Drag 4:14
03 Consent 4:11
04 Rosemary 3:40
05 Devour 5:59
06 Karen 3:31
07 Dark Tunnel 3:51
08 Tennesse Haze 6:52
09 Sin so Vain 7:03
10 Still Need Dreams 2:15
Notes: Recorded with Jeff Berner of Psychic TV at Galuminum Foil in Brooklyn, NY and at Candle Recording with Josh Korody (Beliefs, Wish) in Toronto, ON.
Personnel:
→ Robyn Phillips — songwriter, founder
→ Colin Morgan — drums,
→ Marta Cikojevic — synth & keyboards,
→ Devon Henderson — bass
Review
By Yasmine Shemesh, Published Jun 22, 2016; Score: 8
→ The instrumental first track on Consent, the debut full–length from Vallens, is much like an opening scene to a thriller film; “While You Wait” is at once unsettling and intriguing, with the tense feeling that something is about to happen.
→ It’s an appropriate way for Toronto musician Robyn Phillips, whose project is named after David Lynch film Blue Velvet’s Dorothy Vallens, to begin; much like the darkly surreal cinematic style that’s made Lynch a cult icon, Consent is, too, simultaneously ominous and exquisite. And yes, something significant does happen.
→ Paired with the haunting quality of her voice, Phillips’ whirls of moody shoegaze and trembles of psychedelia weave an emotionally unsettling sonic tapestry. The music’s mind–bending elements, coaxed out by the production of Psychic TV’s Jeff Berner and Josh Korody (Beliefs, Wish), add a profound sonic complement to lyrics about subject matter like addiction, which Phillips confronts on “Karen.” The song, named after singer Karen Carpenter, reflects a plummet into chaos through a violent flurry of fuzz.
→ A feeling of loneliness characterizes “Devour” through pangs of Mazzy Star–like melancholy, which stands in contrast to the joyful, garage–scrubbed symphony of “Tennessee Haze.” Dangerous energy drives all the tracks, but perhaps most blatantly on the menacing rumble of “Rosemary” and “Sins So Vain,” where Phillips beautifully issues an angular melody over cymbal crashes.
→ Consent closes on an atmospheric note with “Still Need Dreams,” which recalls the tone the album opened with. It leaves the listener dizzied, mulling over the emotional wormhole they’ve just hurtled through. It’s the type of record one should listen to with eyes closed, to fully allow the mind to be swept away on a journey that both delights and disturbs, in the most enchanting of ways. (Hand Drawn Dracula) → http://exclaim.ca/ / Also: Robin Murray: http://www.clashmusic.com/features/album-stream-vallens-consent
Label: http://www.handdrawndracula.com/
Review
Mark Anthony Brennan, June 30, 2016
→ http://ridethetempo.com/2016/06/30/album-review-vallens-consent/
Bandcamp: https://handdrawndracula.bandcamp.com/album/consent
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